On November 21, 2023, Binance announced that Richard Teng would be taking over as the new CEO of Binance effective immediately replacing Binance founder Changpeng Zhao as CEO. The change in leadership came as CZ and Binance both settled charges with the United States Department of Justice
Richard Teng is the CEO of Binance and was previously the Head of Regional Markets at the exchange. He is a Singaporean cryptocurrency executive and former regulator with over three decades of experience in financial services. He had previously served as the CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market, as the Chief Regulatory Officer of the Singapore Exchange (SGX), and as the Director of Corporate Finance at the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
In 1998, Richard Teng graduated from The University of Western Australia with a master's degree in Applied Finance with distinction. He previously graduated from Nanyang University in 1994 with a degree in Accountancy with first class honors. In 2004, he participated in an Executive Leadership Program at The Wharton School.
Before joining Binance, Richard Teng was the CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), joining the regulatory body in March 2015. The ADGM is the international financial center in Abu Dhabi and was created in 2013 with the aim of contributing to the UAE's economic diversification, as well as consolidating long-term growth.
The market became fully operational in 2015, under Richard's leadership, and is made up of three authorities: the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the Registration Authority, and ADGM Courts. The ADGM was the first jurisdiction in the region to adopt common law in its entirety.
In 2017, the ADGM introduced several new programs to foster investment and growth including a private real estate investment trust regime, a new venture capital framework for fund managers, and an aviation financing scheme. ADGM also launched the first foundation regime in the UAE, and is leading the way in establishing a fintech regulatory framework and a regulatory laboratory.
Richard joined ADGM from the Singapore Exchange (“SGX”), where he was the Chief Regulatory Officer. Richard also held several senior appointments at SGX including Senior Vice President, Head of Issuer Regulation and Chief of Staff for Risk Management and Regulation, and Head of Regulation. Prior to SGX, Richard served as the Director of the Corporate Finance Division of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. [1]
During his 13 years at MAS, where he rose to become director of corporate finance, he was part of the team that started initiatives such as GIC/Temasek, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, providing capital to encourage the growth of the asset/fund management scene, consolidating local banks, opening up the banking sector to international players and building the private banking sector, and merging Singapore International Monetary Exchange, Securities Clearing and Computer Services and Singapore Stock Exchange to become present-day Singapore Exchange (SGX).